Rate each Fire Emblem from 1 to 10.

[Nyquil]

Rate each FE game that you've played from 1 to 10. Obviously, you need to have played multiple games in the series, or at least played a good chunk of a game. Here's my list.

Fire Emblem: Blade of Light= 7

Fire Emblem: Gaiden= 6

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem= 9

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War= 7 

Fire Emblem: Tracia 776= 8

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade= 9

Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword= 10

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones= 8

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon= 6

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem= 9

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance= 8

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn= 8

Fire Emblem: Awakening= 8

Fire Emblem: Fates= 5

Fire Emblem: Warriors= 5

Fire Emblem: Mirage Sessions= Is this even a Fire Emblem game?

Fire Emblem: Three Houses= 9

 

[lightcosmo]

FE1: 5

FE2: 6

FE3: 5

FE4: 8

FE5: 7

FE6: 6

FE7: 8

FE8: 9

FE9: 6

FE10: 8

FE11: 6

FE12: 7

FE13: 10

FE14: 8

FE15: 8

FE16: 8

[Fabulously Olivier]

The first number is comparative, to other Fire Emblem games. The number in parenthesis is a score as compared to video games as a whole. 

 

1 being the worst. 10 being the best.

 

Shadow Dragon - 3 (5)

The map design was solid enough, mostly, but no writing, no character personality, questionable art (portraits were great, sprites were not), and no reason to give a shit.

 

Shadows of Valentia - 2 (4)

The literal opposite problem. Echoes doesn't even have bad map design; it has no map design. It's like what you would get if FE was randomly generated. The great combat mechanics and characters are utterly wasted on this game, and the forced ambush/dungeon fights made it an utter slog for me to finish.

 

Geneology of the Holy War - 7 (8)

The map design wasn't great, but it existed. This was more than made up for by simply impeccable writing, and this was the first FE that I would really consider good.

 

Blazing Sword - 7 (8)

The opposite of Geneology. Map design was arguably at its best, but we got a basic story, which was helped out by a pretty likeable cast. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either.

 

Sacred Stones - 8 (9)

Honestly, Sacred Stones was probably my first or second most replayed entry. I loved the cast, the soundtrack, the aesthetic, and the story. Blah, blah, too easy, must punish myself with high difficulty or I'm not a real fan, blah. 

 

Path of Radiance - 10 (10)

Fire Emblem at its best. The maps were interesting visually and mechanically; I still vividly remember almost all of them, which can't be said for any other game. The soundtrack was third only to Three Houses and Radiant Dawn. The cast was immensely likeable in almost its entirety (well, except for Makalov). The plot was nuanced. Transforming characters were actually interesting for once. While the graphics haven't exactly aged well, they looked great on the hardware of the time. I could gush about this game all damn day.

 

Radiant Dawn - 7 (8)

Should have been the best game in the series. Instead, excessive frontloaded difficulty, some immensely frustrating map design, questionable plot devices and character decisions, and awful unit availability really made it a shadow of its predecessor.

 

Awakening - 8 (9)

The entry that saved the series gets a lot of hate. But a lovable cast, a solid visual presentation, a compelling (if bloated and at times stupid) story, a sublime musical score, and immense replayability through inheritance really set this one apart. Also, just because a character can solo the game doesn't mean that they have to; the game is engaging if you play as intended.

 

Fates - 4 (6)

Frankly, I'm tempted to score the game lower because of the sheer contempt this game has for enemy-phase players. Also, the story was atrocious, and Conquest easily has the least likable cast of characters in the franchise. But damnit, they tried. 

 

Three Houses - 10 (10)

They tried, and they succeeded. Three Houses is a masterpiece, and any issues I have with it are frankly nitpicks.

 

Warriors - 7 (8)

I love it, and I'm tempted to score it higher, but Warriors is a seriously flawed game (especially its roster).

 

Heroes - $$$ ($$$)

Dollar dollar bills, yo.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Etheus

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Just gonna rank the ones released outside Japan.

FE7: 10/10

FE8: 9.75/10

FE9: 9.25/10

FE10: 8.25/10

FE11: 8.5/10

FE13: 9.5/10

FE14: 8.25/10

FE15: 9/10

FE16: 9.25/10

[Roland]

Fire Emblem Binding Blade: 7

Fire Emblem Blazing Sword: 9

Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones: 8

Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: 9

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn: 9

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon: 6

Fire Emblem Awakening: 4

Fire Emblem Fates: 4

Fire Emblem Echoes Shadows of Valentia: 6

Fire Emblem Three Houses: 10

[Lunarly]

Ranking the ones I've actually played

FE4 - 7

FE5 - 9

FE6 - 6

FE7 - 6

FE8 - 7.5

FE9 - 8

FE10 - 10

FE11 - 5.5

FE12 - 7

FE13 - 4

Birthright - 1

Conquest - 6

Revelations - 4

FE15 - 6.5

FE16 - 7

Edited January 25, 2020 by Lunarly

[Re:Born]

Fire Emblem Geneology of The Holy War: 5

Tharcia 776: 8

Binding Blade: 6

Blazing Sword: 6

The Sacred Stones: 5

Path of Radiance: 7

Radiant Dawn: 7

Shadow Dragon: 3

Awakening: 9

Fates Birthright: 8

Fates Conquest: 8

Echoes Shadows of Valentia: 6

Three Houses: 8

[DarthR0xas]

Alright, sure sounds interesting enough.

FE1: 4.5

It's the start of the series, has some nostalgia and kick-ass animations. Nothing else really. Play it once if you're really into the series, or if you're into retro games, and use a guide for the weapons. It's mostly just a whole game of meh

FE2: 4

I'd say Gaidens highs are higher than FE1, but its lows are horribly lower. The starting two chapters are some of the most fun I think I've had with video games, ever. But that really just goes downhill fast.

FE3: 5.5

Slightly better than FE1, but not much better. Some quality of life things, but still not on the level a modern gamer would expect them to be. Story is, decent I guess? Actually, they replaced Wrys with a vulnerary, 0/10 worst game.

FE4: 7

This is a good game that thankfully IS never repeated most of the mechanics from. It's like 3H in that regard. For the game, as a little outlier, they work. If we see unit-limited cash, absurdly large maps, or some of the other junk in this game again, it ain't gonna fly. What really keeps this up is the characterization and story. The storytelling is limited, sure, but it's still a great experience. It's a fun game, but it'll be a while before I'll even consider picking it back up.

FE5: 9

Screw it, this game rocks and I stand by it. It has some of the dumbest, worst, most esoteric design in this entire series, and I love it. I love all of it, every last minor idiotic decision that should harm the game experience just works. It's just a fun game to play, although it does lose some of its sheen near the end.

FE6: 2

Hot garbage. Boring, bland, and slow. I could count the number of characters I like from it one one hand, and Roy only counts because Smash bros. It really just feels like the game where IS was struggling to get their footing back after Kaga left.

FE7: 5

FE7 is a good game. On some days, I might even call it a great game, today is not one of those days. It is one of those games that gets worse the more you play it. The difficulty is all out of wack, it's one of the least tactically involved games in the series, and at the end I just don't have much to praise. It is the most middle of the road game, which is why it gets the most middle of the road score. The best part about it is the characters. These guys show an upward trend in character writing that is best shown in ...

FE8: 6

It's best shown in FE9, but first we have FE8. FE8 is piss easy. This also means that it's the easiest to make absurd modifications in that actually somewhat work. That's what really brings this game up. I can do randomizers, and RR, and all that junk and it works without me needing to finagle in the games settings. The characters are good, the plot is the best of the GBA era, and it's overall decent.

FE9: 10 (-1 for animations)

This is peak Fire Emblem. Beautifully realized characters, a deep engaging story with morally grey tones. Pure and classic Fire Emblem. The series simply doesn't get better than this. I know the score 10 signifies perfection, which FE9 isn't. Maniac mode is a mistake, and some of the junk it pulls is a little absurd, but that never detracts from the experience, unless it's the animations. My lord they are slow, thank god for speed up buttons on my, uh, totally legit Gamecube copy of the game I own.

FE10: 7

Gameplay wise, it's the best Fire Emblem we've ever gotten. Or it would be, if not for that damned splitting mechanic. This game gets a lot of its clout off of the greatness of Path of Radiance, which doesn't necessarily mean bad things, but it does lead to some meh. The plot is way too big for its own good, which isn't to say it's bad. It has its dumb moments, but it's still above average for an FE story. But it all just falls short of the game that precedes it. It's a bit of a shame, but it's a fun shame.

FE11: 3 - 5

I used to hate FE11. I still do, in some aspects. But it does do some things insanely right. Marth is characterized perfectly here, and reclassing, broken as it may be, is a great addition to the series. But oh my god it is so bad. It just gets less and less fun as you get on higher difficulty levels, around which the level design was not balanced for. The wing spear can only do so much.

FE12: 6.5

A solid improvement in almost all areas. The prologues are like little puzzles, I quite enjoy them. Probably why I like Heroes so much. Difficulty seems more adaptive, although the map design is kinda eh in some spots. Looks way better, and offers characterization where there was none.

FE13: 6

It's good, but not as good as it could be. The plot is an FE10 level mess, the characters vary from awful to actually really good, and the translation at some points makes me cringe, but the gameplay is mostly solid. It broken as all hell, but it's solid. Until you get to Lunatic +. Fuck Lunatic +. Anyways, decent overall.

FE14 BR: 3

Birthright is just boring. It's got nothing going for it. It isn't even bad in a fun way, it's just, boring. None of the characters exclusive to this path are any good, barring Takumi who is the one shining example of a good character.

FE14 CQ: 8

I'm biased, this was my first FE. It's also great and I stand by it. I enjoy almost all of Conquest's playable roster, its gameplay is very fun, and it looks great to boot. The story is what holds it back, as with most of Fates.

FE14 Rev: 7

Revelations gets overhated, imo. It's a solid game, that just falters in some key aspects. It's far from perfect, but it's also pretty darn fun.

FE15: 8

It's the voice acting man. I'm a sucker for good voice acting, and even with 3H, Echoes still beats it for the most part. It's hard not to enjoy Echoes. It's Gaiden if you actually made it playable. Berkut was an excellent addition and features a killer performance by Ian Sinclair. Gotta love Echoes

FE3H: 8.5

It's good, it's real good, but also the most repetitive of the FEs. It's repetition to a fault. I still haven't finished the game because I refuse to do Silver Snow for just one new map. But that first playthrough was still godly. Before any of the analysis kicked in, before I could realize the optimal strategies. Just playing Golden Deer and trying to figure out how everything works. I spent hours playing this in times when it would've been much better to do something else.

[Eunie]

• FE4: 7.5
• FE5: 8.5 (would be easily the best game in the series, if a few mechanics would be fixed or removed like 1-99% hitrate and staff misses)
• FE6: 4
• FE7: 7
• FE8: 6
• FE9: 7.5
• FE10: 9
• FE11: 3
• FE12: 6
• FE13: 4
• Conquest: 7.5
• Birthright: 4.5
• Revelation: 5
• Echoes: 4 (sorry, but I despise the map design)
• Three Houses: 8

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by Rosalina

[Benice]

With my vast library of experience. (In order tht i played them in:)

FE8 : 8. Yes, that's high for a game that's gotten a fair amount of hate. However, it was my first fe, the soundtrack was good, the characters were endearing and we get to look at Riev who is low-key hot. (Okay, not really.) I actuslly liked hkw easy it was. It allowed me to double evryone with lv. 4 Amelia, which is sad and fun at the same time. The ease also gives it a replayability the other games I've played DON'T have. (I did a run just to put Amelia as a general, and another just to put Ross as a Hero.) Lyon is still my favourite antagonist of all time. And I can ship him with the protagonists with less guilt

FE7: 4.5. (Spoilering it because It's a very very long rant.)

Spoiler

I did not enjoy my first playthrough very much at all. Lyn gained 0 strength in Lyn mode, (Finished as lv. 12) Sain gained 2 hp, 2 skill, 2 spd. And luck a whole bunch of times. Kent was the same but slightly better. Kent turned out as one of my three or four usable units. Erk gained everything but mag. He was fine in Lyn mode, but was useless after. Lucius was amazingand saved my life 90% of thr time. Florina started terribly, but finished amazing and became fairly powerful. Ch. 9 and 10 sucked, because the bosses are supposed to be fodder for Lyn with Mani Katti, but she would get OHKO'd and the bosses had 78 percent chances to hit. As a result, it was hitting him with lucius, running away, Healing Lucius, repeat. Then Lucius's tome broke. Did the same thing with erk, who did less damage and didn't double. After a while the bosses both died.  Eliwood mode started better, but I only used Rebecca, Hector and Eliwood for the first three chapters. I used Guy sparringly as well. Anyways, I started to get frustrated after the pirate ship, because I routed the enemy in three turns. Oh yes, I accidentally killed Dart in ch. 16x, so I didn't get to recruit him. Thankfully, Canas exists. After I finished the first ark, (The first trip to dead isle) my Good units were: Hector,  Kent, Canas and Florina. Eliwood was pretty good, too. Anyways, I promoted Canas not long after, because he had higher def than Hector. I suffer through the desert map, in which Pent killed everyone but one of the bosses and a lonely wyvern knight. I suffer through Kenneth's map, which is literally standing around because of the snow until the enemies run out of siege tomes, slowly walk towards the boss and kill him. I suffer through Accidentally Aggro'ing Vaida in her chapter, so I spent the rest keeping Hector on a for while Physic'ing him with Pent. And then I get to 26x, which I spent two weeks on. As I stated, My good units were just the four I mentioned earlier. Pent was good too, but not invincible. I didn't have enough good units to take both paths, so I had to commit to one, Nino's. Jaffar didn't OHKO anyone, so his sword broke very fast. And, because he's stupid, he decided not to go onto the pillar next to him, which would have made him near invincible. As a result, afer I get tired of redoing the chapter over and over again, I just decide to save-state until Jaffar doesn't die. However, Nino couldn't talk to Jaffar, so he wasn't recruited.  My wii U then committed die on me for three months, and had all of the game data deleted. The second run, I just skipped all the dialogue, skipped doing most of the maps right, (Such as actually fighting Damien in 16x) recruited Dart, actually had Raven grow stats, used Lowen (Because Kent decided growth weren't helpful, I guess.) and Generally had things go better. And I got Jerme's map, which was much more tolerable due to the fact that there's actually enemies in that one. Funnily enough, I couldn't use florina because the only stats she grew in at all were Str and Def. She had I think about 18 str as a lv. 16 Peg knight, but had no avo and struggled to hit people consistently so I had to use her eldest sister iinstead. She turned out great.) Anyways, once more, Canas has both def and Res over twenty post-promotion, so he ORKO'd Ursula in the worst map ever, (Battle before dawn.) And I actually was able to send people on both sides. The problem was that I didn' send enough Zephiel's way, so he barely survived. Anyways, Nino turned out really great, recruited Jaffar, and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Except for the chapter where eliwood promotes. Because Eliwood turned out absolutely Terrible. He couldn't kill the armor knight in his path (He dealt I think 2 dmg a round to him?) so I had to send Canas to kill everyone for him. (Canas capped everything except for Mag (one off of capping) and Def (2 off of capping.) ) Anyways, I finished the game. I am currently working up the willpower to go Hector so I can play Hector hard mode later. In short, I disliked a lot of the game for making almost all of the chapters "Fillers." This game could have had 12 Eliwood chapters and would have been fine, but no, we have to mention a random skirmish where Kishuna kills the vibe, an insanely easy ship battle, random skirmishes with the Black Fang, etc. It's fine, I guess, but I far preffered SS for many reasons.

FE10: 7.5: Really like this game so far, I just wish the game auto leveled a few characters for us. (Tormod casualy shows up as a lv. 5 fire sage in 4-4.) And part 2 was pretty boring. I loved the majority of part 3, (especially having Aran Solo 13-3.) but it as a drag having to bring Ranulf along. Ah well.

[eclipse]

In order:

FE4 - 1 (I can't make myself finish the game, so by my standards, it's a failure)

FE6 - 6 (has its moments, but has some stupid conditions like not killing this one enemy unit that's trying to kill you)

FE7 - 8 (it got me here)

FE8 - 6.5 (felt easier than FE7, and I didn't like the oversaturated colors)

FE9 - 7.5 (better than FE8, but didn't care for the how the map looked)

FE10 - 7 (clunkier than FE9 but it got rid of Sage daggers)

FE11 - 9 (easy enough to get around, and enough difficulties to be frustrating, also introduced things like combining weapons so I don't have to carry around two low-use Iron Swords)

FE12 - 8.5 (the difficulty spikes in weird places, and Glower was a mistake)

Awakening - 7 (infinite items are good, map design was not)

Fates - 6 (concepts were all over the place, as was execution, but when things were good, they were GOOD)

Echoes - 7 (this is mostly due to utterly awful map design)

Warriors - 5 (not my genre)

TMS - 9.5 (the worst thing about this was the final song; still one of the best games in terms of gameplay)

3H - 8 (the schooling gets tedious, but the battle system outside of battalions is solid, plus the writing is better then most)

[TeeGeeThree]

FE 1/11: 9

FE 2/15: 7

FE 7: 8

FE 8: 6

FE 13: 9

FE 14 Conquest: 6.5

FE 14 Birthright: 5

FE 14 Revelation: 3

FE 16: 8

FE 3-6, 9-10 and 12 : No Opinion, Gotta play them

[Geenoble]

Going to adress the games I've played, so Rip Gaiden. I also like Etheus idea of two different rankings, as obviously comparing Fire Emblem to Fire Emblem is different than comparing Fire Emblem to Resident Evil. the parenthesis is mostly for comparing it to other games of the time however, as comparing every game to Ocarina of Time or Team Fortress 2 seems unfair, while the initial number is my ranking for it as a game overall rather than comparisons to games of the time.

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light - 3 (1)

What started it all. It's basic fire emblem. Maps are ok outside of 1 range bosses that don't move and the gameplay is tolerable but it is very slow, i couldn't bear to play it on original hardware and would definitely rank it lower without fast forward. In comparison to other games it just feels empty. Compared to other games of the time you have Doom, Super Mario World, Megaman 3. And even comparing it to lesser games like Earthworm Jim it still feels like a game i would never consider playing over them ever.

 

Geneology of the Holy War - 9.5 (7)

This game has a phenomenal Story in my opinion, I love most parts about it and it feels very engaging and emotional. The gameplay definitely has it's issues but i enjoy things like the Pawn Shop system, and it has the best Inheritence in the franchise and it overall has some of my favorite fire emblem mechanics. My second favourite Fire Emblem. In comparison to other games it easily has one of the best stories still which really carries it high, but from a pure gameplay perspective it pales in comparison to some other games released in the same year. Resident Evil and Super Mario 64  triumph it and i would prefer to play those games if i wasn't playing for Story and Characters.

 

Thracia 776 - 8 (5)

Solid, Weird gimmicks that work well in Thracia but i wouldn't want to return in future fire emblems. Fun, but absolutely horrible for blind playthroughs. In comparison to other games it's still a good playthrough, but i would definitely consider better. It being barely beginner friendly is a big hamper too.

 

Binding Blade - 8 (7)

My favorite GBA Fe Game. Great map design outside of paralouges, simple yet fun, it goes back to the Shadow Dragon and the blade of light formula, but greatly improves on what that game had flaws with, such as most bosses having 1-2 range, higher difficulty and better enemy variety. In comparison to other games it definitely stands out as one of the better ones. It's gameplay isn't hurt by any lack of guide and its simplicity adds to it, making it a very solid GBA title.

 

Blazing Blade - 7 (7)

I like the three lord concept, even if Lyn isn't great and Eliwood is bad until promotion but it was a cool concept. The story is pretty bad but while a Good story can add greatly to a game in FE4's case, a bad story doesn't need to detract since you can skip it. In terms of gameplay and map design, it's probably fe6 lite. A bit easier but still fun. My first game in the series. In comparison to other games it feels rather complete and fleshed out. It never feels lacking and is a great introduction to the SRPG genre

 

Sacred Stones - 5 (7)

Sacred Stones was the first open world map Fire Emblem since Gaiden, and it never truly feels like a proper Fire Emblem to me. It isn't a bad game by any means but i don't really like it as a Fire Emblem game. That said it has it's pros such as map design, and the route split is interesting, and differs greatly from Thracias A/B and Illia/Sacae from before. Comparitivly to games of the time it actually holds up pretty well. Of course it isn't Halo 2 or Half-Life but it was the best GBA game of the year in my opinion.

 

Path of Radiance - 8.5 (9.8)

Path of Radiance has my second favorite Fire Emblem story and has some great gameplay. Tellius has my favorite map design in the series and Fe9 delivers. The units are fun to use and, with the exception of Maniac Mode, enemy placement and diversity feels fair and fun. It holds up incredibly well for the games released the same year however. Easily being my second favorite of the year.

 

Radiant Dawn - 10 (9.8)

Personal favorite Ost, Maps, Units, all sorts of things in it. Radiant Dawn is amazing. I love the swapping between armies, I love the early Dawn Brigade Maps, I love part 2, I love part 3. Of course it has it's flaws. Such as the route heavy end game, but i think the pros greatly outweigh these weaknesses. Comparatively it was my second favorite game released that year. And while i didn't start playing it until 2013, Tf2 would surpass it.

 

Shadow Dragon - 7.5 (6)

In terms of just Normal Mode and Hard 1 this game is almost as meh as the original, but the Difficulty increase makes it very enjoyable to play. The reclass system, while full of it's issues (and i personally prefer no reclass) was a great addition that spiced up the series. Forging was improved greatly from the Tellius games and it succeeds in both replicating the original whilst improving on it's flaws in many ways. Of course because it's based on SDaTBoL it suffers from one range bosses on thrones but outside of that it's very solid. Comparatively it falls off just because of all the great games released in 2008 but it still holds up in the top 20 of that year.

 

New Mystery - 7.7 (6.5)

This game is an overall improvement on Shadow Dragon outside of Kris. It has fe3's better story, and maps, whilst improving upon Shadow Dragons existing concepts such as forging. Rip substitute units. Comparatively it was released the same year as Halo: Reach and SMG 2 along with other greats so it falls off there.

 

Awakening - 5 (8)

Much like SS i think this is a good game, but a bad Fire emblem Game, open map is too easy to grind in on lower difficulties and forces you to grind in order to clear shops, and impossible to grind in on higher difficulties thus locking you from shops. Pair up is easily my least favorite Fire Emblem Mechanic, I don't like how centralizing it is and basically transforms units into backpacks. Terrible Map design. It does have good things however. The skill system, while not as good as tellius is still solid, and the unit variety is high. Child units make a return and both make sense from a story stand point and have good inheritence mechanics and despite the bad story, the cast is pretty good. Comparitivly it was probably the second best game of 2013 that i've played. (never played Last of Us but hear it's good) It was fun and took up a lot of time for me but it never had the same competition that Radiant Dawn or Path of Radiance had.

 

Conquest - 6 (4)

Improved on Awakening for the most part. Having actually good maps and getting rid of open map and forced grinding. The over centralization on Pair up does stop it from potentially being one of the best. Won't even mention Story, some Characters are pretty enjoyable. Comparatively it was released in 2015 alongside over 20 games better than it.

 

Revelations - 1 (0)

I don't want to remember this. Comparatively it was my least favorite game i played that year.

 

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 6 (6)

Story is pretty solid with enjoyable cast. Probably 4th or 5th favorite Fe story. My favourite open map FE. I like the split armies, though it wasn't pulled off as well as RD imo. the Grinding is really tedious however, and the Dungeons just reminded me of caves in Pokemon where you just find encounter after encounter with some simple boring puzzles littered in. My favorite part of the game was definitely customizing the villagers. Comparitivly it was ok. No Odyssey or anything but it scraped top 10. I didn't play it in 2017 but if i did it would end there anyway.

 

Three Houses 9.3 (10)

Best Story and Cast since Radiant Dawn. Great Gameplay mechanics, Solid World Building, despite the reuse of maps, the existing ones are pretty steller. The game has it's great points and they really mitigate it's flaws. Favorite game of the year.

[redlight]

Only ones that I have played a great deal of and remember. I have played every entry post FE3 tho. I personally prefer using a 1-5 rating since I can be more precise where I'd like to put a game

FE5: 8

Bit clunky, but unique gameplay; likes to take risks; good story.

FE6: 4

The only thing that brings me back is randomized runs.

FE7: 7 

Leaning more towards a 6 than a 8. Somewhat decent gameplay, but goddamn is the story atrocious.

FE8: 7

Map design feels very claustrophobic; story is cookie cutter, but it does it's job.

FE9: 9

Probably the "best" FE game, but the animations man. I keep on swinging over the Ike takes over the mercs thing, it's stupid how it's just accepted, but at the same time Shinon and Gatrie do leave. Apparently has one of the worst highest difficulties in the franchise tho it's JP exclusive. It being removed was for the better tho the game can be a bit too easy. Plot is sometimes a bit too convenient. The base from Tellius is one of the best in-between chapter menus to have existed within FE. Game designs decisions that seem to work.

FE13: 6 

The entry that got me invested in the series and got me to buy a 3DS. Has a lot of balancing issues to the point that one small tip of the scales can snowball into absurdly broken units. Map design is atrocious, especially on higher difficulties. There's a difference between poorly designed maps and no map designs. The story has pacing issues, filler arcs and the villains are pretty terrible. While it takes mechanic cues from previous FEs, most of them are shoehorned in to the point that they're poorly designed if not redundant. Lunatic is pretty atrocious and I heard + is godawful. Imagine ambush spawns, but with Lunatic stats

FE14: 4

They were trying to do something. They were obviously ambitious, but pandering at the same time. Some priorities weren't where they were supposed to be. There are stories of there being a schism between the devs for who should the game be appealing towards to. Doesn't help that the devs lied through their teeth about the state of the game shortly before release. Don't get me started on the DLC. Conquest is good tho... For it's gameplay.

FE15: 7

Leaning more towards a 8 than a 7. Map design is definitely atrocious, but this really isn't meant to be a standard FE game the same way FE4 is tho it's less obnoxious in it's barrier of entry. I'll give it points for trying to do something new. Some design decisions are thrown in just because, but others work out really well. Has the best presentation in the FE series. Feels distant from modern FE, but in the places it does it does it's job well. Story stumbles at places, especially endgame. I really need replay this game for the purposes of a length and thorough analysis/review.

FE16: I don't know how I feel about it

My honeymoon period with the this game is pretty much over. I'm making a lengthy and thorough analysis, but I've got military service shortly coming up so that'll be delayed until the end of the year.

[Emerson]

Excluding 1/11, 6, and 10. And I am kinda rating these on an "as a game" scale rather than an "as a FE game" scale. As FE games they score about the same just kinda higher, except FE5.

2 and 15: 2/10 and 5/10
While it's gameplay can be extremely underwhelming, I think SoV's presentation still makes it an enjoyable experience. However there are times when it has extremely garbage map design and not even the presentation makes up for it, mostly on Celica's side. Still, I find it's systems mostly enjoyable and characters and setting to be well executed but a bit lacking. Gaiden doesn't get a pass though, while it's not the worst thing ever, it isn't worth playing.

3 / 12: 6/10 (Ignoring the Book 1 part of FE3)
12 is a really enjoyable experience overall, however the unit balance is reeeeally bad, especially as you get later on. Still, reclassing can make things interesting, and adding Classic/Casual and the Avatar did do a great job making the series more accessible.
And 3 is just fun to break, honestly. But beyond that, an enjoyable experience hampered by old, crusty systems, although they're mostly minor inconvenience. But it does also have Chapter 3, so...

4: 1/10
I'm gonna say this first, I have not finished FE4. I seriously dislike it, entirely for it's gameplay. I'll admit I enjoy reading up on it's lore (although almost everything it did story wise, both right and wrong, 3H did better anyways) but that doesn't really matter to me when it's chapters are boring without end. Prologue actually initially gave me hope. Managing units and dealing with bandits across an extremely large battlefield is pretty enjoyable, and Chapter 1 doesn't start off TOO bad, but ends extremely awfully with a garbage trek through forests and a giant clump of enemies with no reason to their placement gameplay wise. However Ch 2 is just a shitshow. Yes, let's walk in one direction for like ACTUALLY 4 turns, deal with a giant mass of enemies in boring ass formations in bare ground, and then do it again like 7 more times over like, 30+ turns of moving forward, and then backtracking again, and then backtracking some more. Real fun chapter guys. Not to mention whatever the hell Lewyn is doing. Sure, let's have a mage and a dancer slowly move along, trying to kill some bandits attacking villages. Should we make the terrain interesting? NAHHH just put some fuckin' forests, but make them everywhere. That'll be FUN, right? PEOPLE ENJOY TEDIOUS BULLSHIT RIGHT?
... In any case uh, I definitely understand if people enjoy Jugdral for it's lore, it is fun to read up on, and can tolerate it's maps, but I'll personally never enjoy it's map design.

FE5: 5/10
On one hand, I greatly enjoy Thracia's unique take on the general systems of FE as well as the capture mechanic. On the other hand, as someone who enjoys analyzing the design of video games, I despise it's constant use of noob traps, as well as giving enemies movement stars. Also staves missing and doubling, which I wanna specifically mention. Healing is kinda the backbone of FE strategy, it's always consistent and you can rely on it to do it's job. ... Except in Thracia, where now any time you wanna heal someone, you run the risk of missing, or using extra durability with no benefit. It makes actually HEALING kinda useless because you can't rely on it, instead making carrying Vulneraries even more vital than any other FE game. Now, I do think this is fine, IF you know what you're doing. Thracia really does need a remake that properly explains this stuff, honestly. Also remove enemies with movement stars, please. It's the one part of Thracia that is actually kinda bullshit beyond the noob traps. As an FE game, I put it at about 7/10, but as an a game, I put it much, MUCH lower, so I settled on 5.
Oh, and it does have my favorite Lord character wise, so that's a plus.

FE7: 7/10
Definitely a solid entry, although it has some issues of lacking a proper difficulties. Eliwood Normal and Hector Normal are both extremely easy, Eliwood Hard is... the same, but with less deployment slots, whoopie, and HHM is difficult and a pretty good difficulty, but quite a big step up from the Normal modes. Not that this issue is exclusive to FE7, but it's really one of the few issues with an otherwise very solid entry, besides some of HHM's extra chapter requirements. And the Support system.

FE8: 7/10
While FE8 is much easier than FE7, it's difficulties are actually pretty well balanced between each other, and it's maps are enjoyable overall. Of course, its lacking in some aspects, mainly in challenge comparatively to the rest of the series, which keeps it down, but it's a very solid entry none the less.

FE9: 8/10
A personal favorite of mine, Path of Radiance is a fun game from start to finish, without being too difficult for newer fans or too easy for older fans. I think, like FE8, it does lack something truly tough for more experienced players, and JP Maniac doesn't really satisfy given it's sort of... rough addition and not particularly well balanced regarding it's enemies. Still, a fun time, and an enjoyable plot.

FE13: 6/10
I find it hard to rate this entry personally. On one hand, this is the game that GOT me into Fire Emblem. On the other, I cannot, for the life of me, go back and replay Awakening. I do not personally enjoy Awakening's map design and general systems on repeat playthroughs. However, they're objectively not that bad, and I think Awakening does a lot of really good things for freedom of playstyle, something I personally heavily advocate in games like Fire Emblem. So... I find myself sort of rating it in the middle. Low personally, but decently high objectively.
Oh, and it has pretty terrible difficulty balance. The gap between Hard and Lunatic is monstrous, at least early on.

Birthright: 6/10
FE13, but it's gameplay is slight better, but it's story is worse. At the very least, I can actually play this one personally. I find the game decently enjoyable on Lunatic, if too easy once you get Ryoma and he, legit, solos the rest of the game. However once the game starts throwing Armors, big fuck Cavalry units, and extremely strong Berserkers at you, I actually find the challenge to be pretty intense. Chapters 22-24 were seriously a good time to me, even if Ryoma could mow them all down if I let him (well actually in 24 he actually struggles which does make it really rough overall). But directly after that section, it shuts down on pushing you forward and sorta just mellows out, until its boring final numbered chapter and endgame. Still, not actually the worst thing ever.

Conquest: 8/10
CQ has some amazing chapters including like, most of everything before 19. But then Chapter 19 EXISTS and I hate it. Dear lord, what an awful chapter. Who thought putting dodgy enemies in an entire map of FORESTS was a good idea, but also giving half of them Cavalry effectiveness, and also half of the time they're straight up invincible??? Between this and the boss of Chapter 17 I think CQ, if not Fates as a whole, really has issues with making enemies too strong, in bad ways. Still, I really enjoy the rest of the chapters up until Ch 25, which is kinda garbage, and then it finished kinda strong with a pretty unique, if extremely tough, endgame.
However it's story is garbage, and it's gimmick do run a little wild, which is definitely a turn off for some. It's forging system is also both extremely boring, and break whatever they attempted to do with the weapon system, which for the record I do enjoy conceptually.
Also shout out to having Ophelia. Obligatory mention quota met.

Revelation: 0/10
Die in a fire.

Three Houses: 9/10
Three Houses definitely has the best plot and characters in the series for me, as well as some of the most enjoyable gameplay systems. But it's map design reeeally holds it back from being a perfect 10 for me. It's just... kinda rough in that regard. Not unenjoyable or really even bad, just rough. However I do enjoy that it lets the player be more open in how they play the game, something I overall very much enjoy able Three Houses and think is it's second strongest aspect overall.

Okay, ACTUAL talk about Revelation: 2/10
While there's a couple decent maps in here, it's not worth playing frankly. The unit balance is pretty awful, the chapters range from passable to actually god awful, and the plot isn't as fun to laugh at as Conquest's, it's just kinda bad. Literally the only really good thing I can say about Revelation is... Orochi is my favorite mother for Ophelia story wise. Who you can't even get in this route until like Chapter 18 at the earliest because Odin's so late, so
yeah bad route.
Also, can I say it's been weird making sure I say "Revelation" instead of "Revelations" recently.

[Parrhesia]

No FE is bad. Some, however, are very, very old. 1, 2 and 3 just aren't playable if you're used to any standard of QoL; weirdly, I found 3 somehow less playable than 2.

I'll give 4 a 7/10. I will always prefer a black sheep that tries a lot of things, 60% of which are actually good, than a mediocre entry. Its story is not nearly as strong as it's sometimes given credit for, and its first two real maps are both fucking appalling. But I do deeply enjoy its systems.

5 is hard to place. I'll give it a 7 as well, but it... really does hate the player, and can't really be unreservedly recommended. Project Exile actually makes it fucking legible now which is mint.

I know that 7 is a better game than 6. I don't know why 7 feels so much like damp cardboard to me. It's not a bad game, and is... hilariously probably the one I've beaten the most times, around five. I'm giving both a 6.

8 decided that character writing would be a really good thing to introduce to the series. Shame it's still crippled by GBA support building. I do find it the strongest of the GBA trilogy, and an ... 8. The first game I played.

Fittingly, 9 is a 9. I'd argue it's the easiest in the series (not counting Maniac for obvious reasons), since while 8 is also fairly easy the core amount of durability every cunt has in 9 means that you're rarely closer than three bad decisions from disaster. Introduced a lot of very good systems, good story, great characters. And it's the game that introduced me to the series, which doesn't hurt.

I emulated 10 once. It ran at a constant 98% speed so the music kept cutting out. Edward got a perfect level-up and then the game crashed. I can't rate it fairly.

11 is exactly what it is and is none of what it isn't. I have the American copy because Eclipse sent it to me. 7.

12 is the only game I've ever played in Japanese. I kind of forced myself to like it for a while. I don't think it's terrible, but it's... lacking. And throwing in seventy-seven PCs was an awful decision. And dragons are bad to fight. It's just... eh. 6.

13 is the only one I've never played at minimum one map of. I'm not a grognard, you are!

14, I've only played Conquest. It's... been rough, and is just too gimmicky to really enjoy. It feels like a plate of potentially delicious pasta, but it's full of mushrooms, onions and capsicum and you have to carefully pick them out and separate them and, honestly, it still infects the taste of the rest of the pasta. Was this essentially my childhood experience with food? Constantly having things that I professed, repeatedly, that I fucking hated, thrown in or hidden so I'd be tricked into 'liking' them by my sociopathic father, until by the end of my childhood the highest praise I could possibly have for a dish is that I can just fucking lay into it without worrying about if some rubbery filthy fungus is on my fork, preparing me to try and become a capable cook myself as early as possible so I could just reliably make things I enjoy eating? I like the pair-up systems and the jug map. It's a 5.

Confession time, I was part of the wave of Olde Guard disillusioned at the direction 13/14 kind of seemed to be taking. Without having played either. Ah, good days. Anyway, 15, while slightly too faithful to the source material, reignited my love for the series. I first played it around 11pm while slav-squatting in dark athletic gear with a Nike duffel bag at a bus interchange waiting for the last wave to come out - yes, I was eventually mistaken for a thief, fairly recently at that. The maps are often bland visually but honestly they rarely suffer much in gameplay. I love the entire cast. 9.

So those are my grognard credentials and you know what, FE16 is still the best in the series, 10/10, Silver Snow pride, fucking fight me cunts.

Heroes is really good; 9.

[Saint Rubenio]

Oh dear. Well, I'm in the mood for receiving some hate today. Let's see how many people I piss off with this...

FE5 - 7.5

I love this game's mechanics (capturing is great fun), and everything up to the lategame is a lot of fun... but the lategame brings it down for me. FE5's lategame is a "warp or go home" deal, the maps are way too difficult in an unfair way, and offer no rewards for completing them normally. I did it once, in my first run, and believe me, it was not fun. Overall a nice experience, but the lategame's pretty awful.

FE6 - 7

It has a lot of jank, but I have a bit of a soft spot for this game. It has one of my favourite casts, and although the story is pretty bad, it has some moments that I enjoy. Also, some of my favourite maps in the series. It's a game that I really like, even if at times it's in a "so bad that it's good" kinda way.

FE7 - I don't really feel safe rating this one

This is where I started. However, it also has the dubious honor of being the one FE game I've never come back to over the years. Everything about it is just so uninteresting to me, that I feel no reason to return to it. As it's been so long since I last played it, I don't think I could rate it fairly, so I won't.

FE8 - 5

The only way I can have fun with this game anymore is if I increase the enemy growth rates. With that tweak it becomes more of a 7 deal, because I do enjoy the story and the mechanics, but as is... the last time I played the vanilla game, I was so bored that I dropped it at chapter 8.

FE9 - 3

I know, I know, I am a terrible person. See what I said about FE8 being boring? This game started a little better. Titania was not as absurdly powerful as Seth, the enemies were slightly tougher... but from then it only went downhill. The game's famous "oh so amazing" story and characters failed to keep me invested, and the game's difficulty plummeted to the point where every single one of my units was an invincible juggernaut. Nobody could ever die, nobody. Even FE8 presented more of a challenge. Dropped my first run at Tauroneo's chapter, never came back.

I value gameplay above all things, and FE9 is so mindlessly easy that I simply cannot imagine why I'd ever return to it. Maybe Maniac mode would improve things, but from what I've seen of the difficulty, it seems more tedious than anything else - and tedium is something this game does not need more of.

FE11 - 8

Great gameplay. Deceptively well-written story, with tons of gems to be found in the dialogue. An artstyle that I enjoy, believe it or not (it's semi-realistic and gritty, I think it fits a war drama well). I also have a soft spot for the cast. It has some jank due to being a remake of the series's first instalment, but overall, it's a pretty great game.

FE12 - 8.5

The story's pretty bad (and Kris does not improve it, even though I don't hate them as much as some others), and the supports are a mixed bag (some are among my favourites of the series, like Arran and Sirius/Belf, others are just crap, like everything with Marisha in it), but the gameplay's probably the best in the series. With straightforward mechanics that belie overall excellent map design (with a couple stinkers like chapter 3), an enormous cast that greatly increases replayability (even if it is a bit unbalanced) and the best designed difficulties in the series, this is a game that is always a joy to come back to. If anything, the lategame's a bit boring. But that's about it, really.

FE15 - 4

I enjoyed my time with it, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. Nuibaba's Abode is the second worst map in the series in my opinion (we'll get to the first in a second), and just... map design is so awful in general. I could stomach it up to that point, but Nuibaba's Abode crossed the line. Also, I really can't see much replay value in this title. The roster is so tiny and the maps so simple that you'll always find yourself doing the exact same things every time. I can't be bothered, sorry.

FE16 - 3

Oh, boy... feel free to call me a contrarian and an elitist. This is a game that actively infuriates me, because it could be so much more. I love many things about it - I want to love this game as much as everyone else, but there's so much to hate about it... Get ready, because it's time for a bible-sized rant. Considering the mark I've given this game, you would probably be more mad if I did not offer several paragraphs explaining my reasons.

Supports are all right, though I do feel they're a bit overrated, and the characters and story are pretty good for the most part, but it has a few important issues. My "favourite" one is Claude. Everyone loves Claude. This pisses me off a bit. You know how everyone bashes Marth-styled lords for having "no personality"? Claude's the exact opposite: a lord with tons of personality, but that is otherwise no more than a glorified secondary. Seriously, think about it: in AM, he appears a grand total of twice, and in both instances he's being a dumbass. Then he leaves the plot solely to bait the player into playing his route to find out why he does any of the things he does. In SS, he does the same things, except he only appears once rather than twice. In CF, he's a one-off boss, and that's it. Even in his own route - he barely even is a thing there, because it's a copy-paste of SS! He never schemes, he never strategizes, he never is anything other than husbando-bait. So why does he get a free pass and so many fans, yet the likes of Marth and Eliwood are constantly bashed for being boring?

Then there's the gameplay. God, the gameplay! It's bad. At least it offers some difficulty, unlike FE9, but the map design is the worst since Gaiden (which, I suppose, you could say means "the worst map design since the last title", but I'm counting OG Gaiden as well). Side objectives are nigh non-existent, and those that do exist are usually mindless "get the chest" or "kill this dude before he kills these dudes / runs off with these items". No villages to save, no enemies/NPCs to recruit, no nothing. Often times the maps involve killing commanders that are, like, two turns away from the start. And no, map reuse is not the problem. The problem is that those maps are awful on top of reused. And then there's all the "whoops, we pulled a fast one on you! Use divine pulse!" moments, like all the ambush reinforcements in maddening, or AM Gronder Field, where killing a miniboss makes the middle hill explode for no reason, preventing all units there from moving for a turn; or Reunion at Dawn in general (more on that in a moment). There are way too many of these, and it's just bad game design.

It is here that we find the worst map in the series, in my opinion: chapter 13, Reunion at Dawn. Why do I hate this map so much, you ask? Because it's the only map in the entire series that actively forces you to use a certain team and set-up. What, you didn't use your students because you like the faculty / other houses' students better? You're fucked. Your students got RNG-screwed / died, which is a perfectly plausible scenario that IntSys should've taken into account? You're fucked. Made too many of your characters into Mages? You're fucked. My maddening run ended here, because Hilda died, Lorenz and Claude were RNG-screwed, and Ignatz and Byleth were Mages. A softlock resulting from me just... playing the game the way I wanted and the RNG not always being on my side. Marvelous. 10/10 strategy game of the year.

Balance is also awful. And then people say Kaga can't balance... this is a game where two or three classes are clearly better than the rest, and characters feel a bit samey except for four or five that are either much better or much worse than the rest.

Then there's the aesthetics. Normally I don't think much about a game's graphics, but... what happened here? This game is hideous! Leaving aside the artstyle, because that's more of a subjective issue (and no, I don't like it. There's a grand total of five designs I enjoy: Hanneman, post-timeskip Dimitri, Ignatz and Leonie, and Catherine), this is quite possibly the ugliest AAA game on the Switch. Not to mention the fact that they capped the FPS at 30 so the game runs well, and still they failed, because it runs like crap. Every time somebody swings a sword or casts a spell, a thousand particles appear on the screen and the FPS drop to like 15. It does not impede the gameplay, but perhaps it's a bit of a problem when your game looks like a freeware game. On the wii.

So yeah. In conclusion, it's a game with a lot to love, but so much to hate that I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to replay it. I really would like to like it, believe me I would - but I just can't.

Heroes...? - 1

Personally, I wouldn't count this one, but... yeah. I really don't like this game. As far as FE goes, this is probably the worst it has to offer. Gacha goodness with a fraction of FE's strategical gameplay that you can carry in your pocket. There's... really nothing more to it.

You know, for a series with hundreds of playable characters, you'd think they'd add more of them rather than, you know, 10 Camilla alts? I'm not even asking for stuff like Frost, but... c'mon, Marcus? Oifey? Nergal, even if I don't personally like him? Murdock, the only Wyvern General of Bern who isn't in yet? Jill? Geoffrey? These are a few examples that aren't just popular characters, they're also important ones in their games. But nope. Gotta add more alts! That's what brings in the dough, after all.

 

 

 

Tear Ring Saga - 8

I know, I know, technically not FE, but c'mon, let me have this after the Three Houses rant. TRS is the game Kaga made for the PS1 after leaving IntSys. Pretty much just FE on PS1. It has a ton of jank, even more than FE6 - it's a very experimental game, and it shows. However, when it does something right, it does it really right. There's a lot to love about this game. Holmes's route is a bit of a mess, but Runan's route is a great story with very fun maps. There's so many hidden secrets and convoluted quests, that you could play through the game three times and still not find everything in it. Also, the roster is absolute bonkers - you have two literal tanks (and I do mean "literal" - they're literally tanks, as in, the vehicle), a seemingly generic miniboss that you can recruit, a seemingly generic boss that you can recruit by killing him, a playable Gaiden Witch (infinite move magical nuke? Don't mind if I do!), a Sniper oifey that refuses to kill humans... the amount of insane concepts for units they came up with is incredible.

Also, this is the game that has Eugen in it. Eugen is the best character in games. Play the game, and you'll see for yourself.

Berwick Saga - 10

Bar none, the best strategy game I have ever played. An absolute masterpiece. Whatever flaws it has are so minor and insignificant that they simply cannot hope to compete with this game's inmense virtues. It's an amazing game, with maps full to the brim with side objectives, quests and other stuff to do; a great cast of playable characters and NPCs that don't need supports to develop, a rich and enticing story, unique mechanics that pretty much make it a one-of-a-kind game, a great soundtrack, stunning graphics... I could gush about this game for hours on end and it would not be enough. If you can handle the low hitrates at the beginning of the game (they make sense, considering the game's unique combat system, but a lot of people are taken aback by them), treat yourself to a run through this one. It's a great experience.

Vestaria Saga - 8.5

This one's more like a blend of TRS and BWS. It's nothing to write home about visually, but the story's pretty good (even if it does get way too wordy at times, there's one particular scene that I spent a full hour on), and the maps are long and full of stuff to do. Thank God for those saves every 5 turns, if the game didn't have them I would probably rate it a lot lower.

[Anacybele]

Sure, I'll rate the ones I've played and completed.

Blazing Sword: 5/10. Not a great game, the plot and characters are rather boring in my opinion. I enjoyed Sain and Fiora and I kinda like Wil too. But that's about it. Lyn should've been more of a thing instead of just "there" after her tutorial. She could've been so much more. The gameplay is kind of bland, though I guess it still works. Though I did play this after PoR and RD, so maybe that's why it feels eh to me there.

The Sacred Stones: 7/10. I enjoyed this story and characters! Ephraim is so cool. Eirika though, she could've been better. Though that's also probably me being tired of naive females. They seem to come up a lot and yet you don't see naive males nearly as often. Also Eirika is just...TOO naive for my tastes as well. I also like the overworld map feature in this game.

Path of Radiance: 10/10. Perfect story and characters and it has the best lord Ike. I love pretty much everything about it! It also has best female Elincia.

Radiant Dawn: 9.5/10. Even better gameplay than its prequel imo, and still has a great story and such. Though it's held back a bit by its crappy support system and availability of some units. Also, Ike's ending is GOD FUCKING AWFUL. What were they thinking shoving that trope in for him? It makes no damn sense for his character. I refuse to actually complete RD anymore because I hate it so much. I only play to part 4 Endgame.

Awakening: 4/10. Shitty story and watered down gameplay and the characters are generally one-note pieces of cardboard with little depth. This game just took away much of what I loved about Tellius and it will always bother me. The only thing I love in it is Frederick, pretty much. xP

Fates: 3/10. Take Awakening and up the fanservice and make the story and characters generally even shittier. I hate this game. Though Silas, Ryoma, and Kaze are cool.

Heroes: 8/10. I consider this a main game in the series. Sakurai does too, actually! He said so in his Byleth in Smash reveal. I think it's very good for a mobile game, though a few modes could be improved, mainly Aether Raids and the arena. I think the prices on orbs and orb packs have generally been fair too, and I've not had to spend a lot on them regardless because there are a lot of free orbs too! I like being able to use and level up all my favorite characters from across the series that are in the game and I like a lot of the seasonal outfits too. It's so fun. XD

Three Houses: 9.5/10. IS learned from their horrible mistake that was Fates! This story is awesome and so are pretty much all the characters. I absolutely love Claude and Sylvain and Claude is now my second favorite lord after Ike. My only nitpick with the game is that I think there's too much map reuse. I get that this saves money and time, but there comes a point where you're just overdoing it. Seeing the same maps over and over and over is so boring.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Anacybele

[Shrimpy]

FE4 - 7/10. Map design may be a dumpster fire, but it being my second FE, it has a special place in my heart. I loved how unique it is, loved gen 1's story, and loved it's characters.  Biggest weak points are gameplay/Map design and how Gen2 is basically ''Defeat Evul Dragon''.

FE5- 8/10. NGL could've been my favourite if it wasn't for the surprises the playes has no way of knowing of. Special Mention goes for the Manster Arc for how amazing it is.

FE6 - 3/10. Worst FE experiece i ever had. I don't think there's anything redeeming about this game. Especially when i played 3DS, Jugdral and Tellius before it. Going from FE5 to this was ????. Like, where's everything. Also, hit rates are horrible ugh.

FE7 - 5/10. GBA Era is bleh.

FE8 - 6.5/10. Imo, the only enjoyable GBA game. Might be a bit easy but nothing some hacks can't solve.

FE9 - 8/10. Would've been more if it wasn't so super easy.

FE10 - 9/10. Former favourites before Three Houses, and honestly, the only FE games i would consider having a good story before Three houses (I already talked about FE4 yes, but i am really not fond of it's 2nd generation story, as i said.). Has my still favourite Lord, Ike, and alot of my favourite Characters, like Jill who is my #1 Character in the Series. One thing that i love in RD that's only done in Echoes/Gaiden is the mutlipe armies and prespectives. I really really rally loved this, and wish more games do it this way. I also loved how your different armies fight each other through the game. We need more of that. Ike vs. Micaiah, Chaos vs. Order, Ideals vs. Loyality. LOVED IT! Sadly, even that game has it's big weak points, those being Part 4 Maps (those were horrible ugh) and the whole Blood Pact thing. It's also a ship destroyer of Doom.

FE12 - 4/10. Can't for the life of me enjoy it. Early Maps are a pain. Kris is bleh. Ambush spawns. Like,... WHY? Also, same thing as GBA, removed to many Mechanics. Yeah, it's a remake and all, but a remake should adapt new stuff and not remove it. Remakes don't need to be faithful.

Conquest - 9/10. Par None, Best Gameplay in the series. Story might be a dumpster fire of epic propotions, but i care about gameplay much much more.

FE16 - 9/10. Best Story in the Series so far, with the best and most fleshed out characters. Gameplay is also pretty enjoyable. I especially love the customization aspect. Honestly, the game's main weakness is it's reptitiveness and Maddening mode.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Shrimperor

[Reality]

FE1   3/10   NES RPGs are Nintendo Hard and force grinding,.. except ironically, the one that actually advertises itself as having permadeath.

FE2   2/10  

FE3   3/10    This game is not hardware optimized and enemy phase takes as long as FE4 despite smaller unit counts due to intense lag - not a big problem for emulator playthroughs with a speed slider... granted- Like the addition of the star shards, book 1 and book 2 maps that share a location have some disappointment to them though. Has a few high stat enemies (dragons) relative to your units later on and in better numbers than many other FE games, but nothing doing.

FE4   1/10   

FE5   6/10  Your enemy phase unit's are a touch strong in this game considering it's reputation. Lot of systems go unused for practical purposes. I treat all the growth scrolls as "iron runes" for crit immunity too eliminate the busywork of trading them. Best of Kaga-GBA ERA. 

FE6   4/10  I played this game to check it off a list, it's supposedly worse than the other two not in a way that stuck out to me besides the comfort of gba buttons vs keyboard if I'm honest. 

FE7   5/10 

FE8   5/10

FE9   4/10   FE9 Hard is easier than FE8 hard mode. The incomplete-disable battle animations is a turn off.

FE10  5/10  Part 1 and Part 2 are the highlight, kind of wears on into "victory lap" terriorty with some of the Greil Mercenary maps. 

FE11   8/10

FE12    8/10

FE13    7/10   I like Awakening Lunatic + as a "setup" challenge as opposed to a "tacitical" challenge, but the latter is MISSING in classic era FE anyway so it's no loss.

FE14     7/10  Lunatic Rev/BR is still better than all GBA stuff, even though Conquest is the only one people should own. Has some drawbacks, but eh.

FE15     2/10  The best thing about it is the touching story of the one developer who played it with his dad.

FE16     5/10 Three Houses Hard = Awakening, but slower because of monastery. Maddening is 5 chapters of curved shot and then it just turns into hard after mikalan.

Warriors 7/10 - It's fluctuates between my 3rd-4th favorite Warriors game and is MUCH better than Hyrule Warriors.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions 8/10 -  I'm not a superfan of press-turn and  stuff but after Octopath…. fresh reminder that yeah I would prefer it to the current crop of turn based RPGs and to replaying MOST SNES/PS1 games. 

Heroes : 10/10 - doesn't waste time trying to be an RPG and makes fully embraces being the puzzle-tactics games FE should have been.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Reality

[Nobody]

FE4: 8/10
The game can be a fun change of pace. It has fun mechanics and building up the units is fun, but the maps can drag a bit too long. Nice story.

FE5: 9/10
This game pretty much built the foundation to future fire emblem games. It has a lot of creative stuff and nicely designed maps, though some stuff is a bit annoying.

FE6: 8/10
It's a nice game, but the hit rates can be annoying, and the same turn reinforcements are bullshit

FE7: 9.5/10
I love this game, but it's too enemy phase based. I actually like the map design, tho.

FE8: 9/10
Good maps, but too easy. I like the class branches

FE9: 8.5/10
Nice game, nice story, but too easy and slow.

FE10: 4/10
Not a fan at all. Micaiah annoys me, and it has plenty of awful maps, like Geoffrey Charge and From Pain, Awakening. Too slow, too many allied units. Also, legitimately the only Fire Emblem soundtrack I deslike. It hurts my ears, with all the dissonance it has.

FE11: 9/10
Absolutely love it. Pretty challenging on H5, nice map design, and a simple but nice story.

FE12: 8.5/10
I absolutely love how challenging this game is on H3, though some of it maps are annoying and the ambush reinforcements are maddening.

FE13: 3.5/10
An awful broken mess. Lunatic can be beaten by pairing Robin with Frederick on the first few chapters and the with Chrom and soloing everything. Map design is beyond awful. Story is just bad.

Birthright: 4.5/10
Just a bore. It's like Awakening but with improved mechanics, so that's something

Conquest: 10/10
Love it, love it, love it. Just a fun game to play. I don't even care about the awful story. Lunatic Mode is the most fun difficulty in Fire Emblem. Whenever I take a weekend to play it, I play it nonstop, from beggining to ending. Great maps, fun gameplay, fun classes. A masterpiece of game design.

Reveleation: lol/10
Played it just to say I did it. Not even worth talking about.

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia: 7.5/10
Bad maps, cool class progration and combat arts are fun. I don't like dungeon crawling in my fire emblem, and was really afraid it would become a series staple, but it thankfully didn't.

Three Houses: 10/10
I really love this game. Maddening brought difficulty, which it lacked. The maps are a bit simple but still fun. It has my favorite story in a fire emblem game, I've played it 9 times but I just can't myself to skip it while replaying the game.

I played TMS and loved it but don't feel like it should be in this list.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Nobody

[NinjaMonkey]

Path of Radiance - 7

Radiant Dawn - 9.5

Awakening - 8.5

[Nobody]

10 hours ago, eclipse said:

TMS - 9.5 (the worst thing about this was the final song; still one of the best games in terms of gameplay)

The faia emburemu one or the one itsuki sings in the credits? haha

[eclipse]

16 minutes ago, Nobody said:

The faia emburemu one or the one itsuki sings in the credits? haha

Fire Emblem being turned into a vocal piece.  It felt really awkward.

Itsuki's voice may not be as stellar as everyone else's, but I like the fact that he tries.  Make the manager pull his weight and all, even if he's surrounded by people that can do it better than him.

[Tryhard]

On 1/25/2020 at 5:00 PM, Nobody said:

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia: 7.5/10
Bad maps, cool class progration and combat arts are fun. I don't like dungeon crawling in my fire emblem, and was really afraid it would become a series staple, but it thankfully didn't.

that's more than I expected!

I have not played FE1, 3, most of Fates or Three Houses so I'm omitting them.

FE4: 8/10 - Some of the maps are fucking awful, but the game has a strong core and I do like some of the edgier themes in Jugdral.

FE5: 7.5/10 - Certainly has a lot of "interesting" moments that are outside of a regular FE and is rather unique like FE4, but it's entertaining enough.

FE6: 2/10 - The only game I actively dislike. There's nothing to the story or characters and it basically functions as a rehash of FE1, but without the excuse of being on the NES.

FE7: 7.5/10 - I consider it a good baseline game for a traditional Fire Emblem in every way.

FE8: 6/10  - Not particularly engaging. There's nothing tremendously wrong with it in terms of presentation but the game is rather undertuned in terms of difficulty.

FE9: 8/10 - Good story, and the gameplay is pretty decent while being fairly easy like FE8. There's nothing particularly wrong with it.

FE10: 7.5/10 - I like the game, but it can definitely feel plodding at certain parts of it. Because of that, I find it hard to start another playthrough of this game and a lot of the tedious nature of the opening chapters for each act can be frustrating. Story is a step down from FE9.

FE11: 6.5/10 - Barebones, but playable. It has some design decisions I find baffling (gaiden chapters requiring you to kill off characters unless you're really bad, for one) but it at least is a functional remake of FE1.

FE12: 8/10 - Not sure how much of this is because of FE3 considering I never really played it, but it does feel as though the newly added stuff is not executed well. The game itself it is based on is very good, however,  characters and their supports that were added are at least more interesting than FE11.

FE13: 5/10 - Mediocre, I finished it once and have no desire to replay it ever. The map design tiles may look a little pretty, but it's simple and plain.

FE2/Echoes: 9/10 - Mostly speaking of Echoes here because while I did play FE2 multiple times and was an advocate of it, Echoes is of course a superior version of the game. The cast is done very well. The story, barring some very confusing moments (that were in the original Gaiden), is good enough. The potential of the class system and the mechanics of Gaiden are used to their full potential. Whenever there's a remake of a game you like there's always the concern that it will be done poorly, but more or less the game is done in the best way they could have.The main problem being that if you have map design as one of your highest priorities in terms of what makes a good Fire Emblem, you are not going to enjoy this one - like FE13, it has poor map design to say the least. The soundtrack for this game is in my opinion still the best to date. I don't feel as though this game is one that lends itself to multiple playthroughs, but I have been content after finishing it a couple times.

TearRing Saga: 8.5/10 - The game felt like a hybrid of FE2 and FE5 to me, but there is too much text in the game that it can become tedious. The game is still worth playing and despite not being from the series itself I would consider it one of the better ones (because mechanically it is basically the same as FE).

Edited January 29, 2020 by Tryhard